Italeri 1/48 8.8cm FlaK 37 AA Gun Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

The 88 mm gun (eighty-eight) was a German anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun from World War II. They were widely used by Germany throughout the war. It was one of the most recognizable German weapons of the war. Developments of the original models led to a wide variety of guns.

The name applies to a series of anti-aircraft guns officially called the 8,8 cm FlaK 18, 36 or 37. FlaK is a German contraction of Flugzeugabwehr-Kanone or Flugabwehr-Kanone (hence the capital K) meaning anti-aircraft cannon, the original purpose of the eighty-eight. In informal German use, the guns were universally known as the Acht-acht (8-8), a contraction of Acht-komma-acht Zentimeter (German: "8,8 cm" - comma being used as the decimal separator in German).

The later FlaK 37, included updated instrumentation to allow the gun layers to follow directions from the single director more easily. The parts of the various versions of the guns were interchangeable, and it was not uncommon for various parts to be "mixed and matched" on a particular example. Some sources mistakenly cite that the FlaK 37 was not equipped for anti-armor purposes. The fact is all 8.8 cm FlaKs were capable of the dual role. (Wikipedia.com)

Italeri has released the first styrene kit of the FlaK 37 in 1/48 scale and what a beauty. I believe Bandai produced the first 8.8cm FlaK gun with their FlaK 18 kit a number of years ago. Here is a contemporary tooling with all of the details you've come to expect.

Molded in light gray styrene, this kit is presented on three parts trees. There are lots of nice details here, but nothing that a modeler with some building experience couldn't tackle.

The kit provides a nice cruciform gun carriage that can be built in the firing position or in its travel configuration.

The gun can be moved in azimuth and elevation. The gun shield has a viewport armor plate that can be positioned open for firing or closed for travel.

The kit also comes with two wheeled carriages that are attached to the cruciform carriage so the gun can be towed around the battlefied as required.

The kit comes with decals for the following:

• 19 FlaK Division, 102 FlaK Regt, North Africa, 1942
• Unknown Unit, Russia, 1943
• 22 FlaK Brigade, Stab 135 FlaK Regt, Bologna, Italy, 1945

The decal sheet provides standard markings in black and white as well as the distinctive emblems for their respective subjects.

This is a nice kit that will work nicely for 1/48 armor builders as well as aircraft modelers that want a diorama for their next project that features a Bf 109 or Fw 190 parked in dispersal near a FlaK gun defending the airfield.

My sincere thanks to MRC for the review sample!.